How about Mules!

[brownmule]

any longears out there? i have been rasing mules for 11 yrs now. i love them. i have one that will untie her self in the horse trailor and then untie her sisiter..i use panic knots incase somthing would happen and have to untie them in a hurry, now i tie them up with knot out side thehorse trailor.. got tired of that ol mule laughing at me , we had an arabin mule born last aug. wow what a hand full she is..been working with her, cant wait till spring and mud drys up.. Rose [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[mfaley]

Welcome to CBN.
We don’t own any mules but I have ridden them in the past and used them for packing in the backcountry. I like them and they sure are smart. There is a 28 year old kid that lives down the hill that inherited a house free and clear and enough money to retire on. He decided that he wanted to be a cowboy with his free time and someone talked him into buying a mule. Unfortunately he did not really know how to ride and he found a place that had a backyard pleasure horse trainer to help him out.

I would see that kid out there getting all bowed up and red in the face trying to get that mule to do anything. About one in a hundred that kid would cue the mule in a way that it could figure out and the mule would respond. But neither that kid nor the horse trainer understood it so that kid would go back to yanking on its mouth and kicking away at its side. Finally that poor mule had had enough and did a little crow hop as that kid was harpooning the heck out of it. Off comes the kid and now, in front of everyone, he is pissed. Say what you want about a mule but they don’t back down for nothing…..that poor kid was backed into the corner of the arena and made a dive between the arena fence rails.

I was glad to see that the kid had decided his cowboy days were over, gave the mule back and bought a 2 wheel rice rocket.

If you have any picture of your long ears you should post them.

Mark

[brownmule]

funny story about cowboy mule rider ..LOL i can see that happening..they are different for sure, you can cowboy ahorse in todoing things but you better sweet talk a mule LOL had to learn to think like a mule i guess that makes me "mule headed" LOL they are so sure footed, ive been trail riding in winter on ice patchesn horses slidding ol mules keeps on treking on. the hardest part i had with training them way to lead..if they dont want to walk they dont! you take 1300lbs vrs 140 if she dont want to move she not! mine are snack hounds.. i had to stop thinking like a horse, i can't push them but i can con them..i have 2 big drafts,{you have to use tailgate of truck, to climb in the saddle} and a mormal size hinney, and 2 donks{1 is reg jack, momma's mule maker} an arabin mule colt born last aug and one short ear mare. training misty now the colt. gonna start her under saddle soon as weather gets better,, should be fun! Rose [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[mfaley]

They are a funny animal. Though you are better off getting all equines to trust you and think everything is thier idea you can sort of bully a horse around a little. But a Mule?????? No way.

Hey Bird, if you ever get out to CA and the timing is right, you ought to head up the east side of the Sierras and poke around Bishop. They have the Bishop Mule Days celebration and its nothing but long ears. We went whizzing through there one time an could only stop for 15 minutes but its neat. Actually, its a nice trip along the east side of the Sierras from about Mammouth up to Alturas. All sorts of neat things to see and its a comfortable road trip.

Mark

[Bird]

Mark, I doubt that I'll ever get back out that way, but I'm sure I'd enjoy the Mule Days. In '93, during our RVing days, near Hershey, PA, I saw a matched pair of the most beautiful mules I've ever seen. They were just a little brighter tan than deer and the biggest mules I've ever seen anywhere. I figured they must have come from Belgian mothers. They were just in a pasture at the time, but in an Amish area, so I'll bet that was as fine a pair of draft animals as a person could own.

[mfaley]

They sure sound impressive. A nice matched team that are trained well are nice to watch. Its nice to see the old ways being preserved.

Mark

[Bird]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
been rasing mules for 11 yrs

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I can't claim to know much about mules, although I used to watch my dad plow with a team when I was less than 10 years old, and then once I spent a day driving a single mule pulling a wagon hauling corn shocks.

But about 10.5 years ago, while we were still full time RVers, we spent a week just south of Stanley, ID, at a place called Obsidian if I remember right. And the couple in the RV next to us showed us a video of their grown son with his string of pack mules in a contest. They said he won most of the contests he entered, and while most of the packers rode a horse leading the string of pack mules, he rode a mule instead. And all his mules were white. It was a pretty interesting video and he obviously had some well trained mules for that string to wind in and out around a lot of posts without ever letting any of the packs hit a post.

[RipTide]

I would love to own a mule, maybe sometime soon. There is a beautiful tan colored mule down the road from us. My 6 year old has heard his Grandpa say, "Oh the Braves got beat like a rented mule!" and other expressions of beatings like a rented mule. Anyway, when we first moved out to the country and we were driving by that nearby farm, I said to the kids, "Look guys, there's a mule." And my six year old says, "Is it rented?" Don't know if that comes across funny on a forum like this, but we all had a great laugh about it.

[brownmule]

rented mule. i never heard that expression before. im sure that must of been a bad beat'en LOL well congrats to your neighbor who has the spoted long ear. they are worth more than plain blankets in show. i have seen some that have been crossed with zebra got stripes on legs really intresting..my jack is strawberry roan, but he thorws the cross and stripe both last yrs babies had it and from different moms. i should sell my arab mule colt, but i havent tryed to hard LOL ok,,,,any.. lol. thats why i have her mom at my friends house now. i dont want another baby till i sell this one. Rose

[GaryM]

Not too much of a mule story, but I'll tell it anyway.

As a recent rural resident (two years) I was quite suprised when two mules showed up in my yard one Sunday morning. I called the Sheriff's office because I didn't know where they belonged. Deputy came by about 30 minutes later and told me where they belonged and he went to notify the owner.

The owner came to walk them home, only about 1/4 mile as it turned out.

They showed up again two weeks later and I just went out to pet them and walked them home myself.

They are often in a pasture where our road comes off the county road. I just never noticed them as it's got trees and brush in it.

Now when I stop at the road to pick up the paper, sometimes one of them wanders over to be petted. In fact I'm rather disapointed when he's not there.

So I've made the adjustment from a suburban homeowner who got upset if somebody walked on my lawn to someone who now thinks mules in the front yard are OK rather than a problem.

And I think I'm better off for it!